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Shea Goodbye

Benjamin Grimm Sep 17 2008 02:53 PM

Some scoop on the Shea closing ceremonies, from the New York Times: RICHARD SANDOMIR wrote: After the Florida-Mets afternoon game on Sept. 28, the Mets plan to bring back 45 former players, including Tom Seaver and Mike Piazza, for a celebration called Shea Goodbye. Dave Howard, the Mets’ executive vice president for business, said, “We think most of the names that come to mind will be there.” Howard offered few other details. He said fireworks were possible, but construction at Citi Field next door might pose a roadblock. It may also prevent the team from doing something spectacular, like lighting up the unfinished ballpark. “Lighting up Citi Field is an interesting idea, but I can’t say it’s feasible,” he said. The Mets have already announced plans with the MeiGray Group to sell artifacts from Shea Stadium, with the city retaining 70 percent of the proceeds and the rest going to the Mets Foundation.

HahnSolo Sep 17 2008 02:55 PM Re: Shea Goodbye

="Benjamin Grimm"]Some scoop on the Shea closing ceremonies, from the New York Times: ="RICHARD SANDOMIR"]After the Florida-Mets afternoon game on Sept. 28, the Mets plan to bring back 45 former players, including Tom Seaver and Mike Piazza, for a celebration called Shea Goodbye. Dave Howard, the Mets’ executive vice president for business, said, “We think most of the names that come to mind will be there.” Howard offered few other details. He said fireworks were possible, but construction at Citi Field next door might pose a roadblock. It may also prevent the team from doing something spectacular, like lighting up the unfinished ballpark. “Lighting up Citi Field is an interesting idea, but I can’t say it’s feasible,” he said. The Mets have already announced plans with the MeiGray Group to sell artifacts from Shea Stadium, with the city retaining 70 percent of the proceeds and the rest going to the Mets Foundation. Mookie, Kingman, and Davey come to mind. don't think they'll be there.

Benjamin Grimm Sep 17 2008 02:57 PM

I'm not expecting Doc Gooden either. I do expect Keith, Ron and Rusty. And I hope that Jerry Koosman will be there.

metsguyinmichigan Sep 17 2008 03:02 PM Edited 1 time(s), most recently on Sep 17 2008 03:05 PM

What happened to Mookie? Would be neat to see Jay Hook and some of the other 1962 originals there. Even Don Zimmer. The Tigers did something neat for the last game at the stadium. Players wore the number of the best player who ever played in that position. For centerfield, the player wore no name or number to commemorate Ty Cobb. So it's a good trivia question. Who was the last person to play in the major leagues without a number. Hint: He's a Brewer today.

HahnSolo Sep 17 2008 03:05 PM

There was an article a few weeks back (Rubin in the Daily News, maybe?) that said Mookie and Davey were not likely to be there.

HahnSolo Sep 17 2008 03:07 PM

Guessing Gabe Kapler.

metsguyinmichigan Sep 17 2008 03:09 PM

HahnSolo wrote: Guessing Gabe Kapler. Correct! They also dug up home plate right after the game, and gave it a police escort to Comerica Park, where it was immediately installed, all shown on the scoreboard video. Kinda neat.

G-Fafif Sep 17 2008 03:28 PM

Thirty-six active players at the moment plus Ron, Keith, HoJo and Sandy Alomar Sr. So they'll be bringing in, I assume, like five guys. Seriously, 848 men have played for the Mets. Forty-five, if I've counted correctly from the UMDB necrology, are no longer with us. A few dozen from '62 and '63 never played at Shea. Maybe a few more only played road games after '64. Ex-Mets in other uniforms and therefore working that day as players, coaches and managers must total, I don't know, a few more dozen. Seems to me 45, other than for the significance of total number of seasons at Shea, is a little low.

Gwreck Sep 17 2008 05:05 PM

45 players? I'll guess it looks like this: Tom Seaver Darryl Strawberry Mike Piazza Howard Johnson Ed Kranepool Keith Hernandez Ron Darling Rusty Staub Bud Harrelson Jesse Orsoco Lee Mazzilli Ron Swoboda Al Jackson Jerry Koosman John Franco Al Leiter Jerry Grote David Cone John Stearns Bobby Jones Lenny Dykstra Edgardo Alfonzo Sid Fernandez Jon Matlack Rick Reed Todd Hundley Gary Carter Wayne Garrett Hubie Brooks Joel Youngblood Felix Millan Craig Swan Gary Gentry Turk Wendell Robin Ventura Todd Zeile Wally Backman Tim Teufel Ed Charles Rick Aguilera Dennis Cook Todd Pratt Randy Niemann Kevin Elster Terry Leach Top 5 Absentees: Doc Mookie Cleon Kingman Olerud (also absent: Bobby V. and Davey)

HahnSolo Sep 17 2008 07:53 PM

G-Fafif wrote: Thirty-six active players at the moment plus Ron, Keith, HoJo and Sandy Alomar Sr. So they'll be bringing in, I assume, like five guys. Seriously, 848 men have played for the Mets. Forty-five, if I've counted correctly from the UMDB necrology, are no longer with us. A few dozen from '62 and '63 never played at Shea. Maybe a few more only played road games after '64. Ex-Mets in other uniforms and therefore working that day as players, coaches and managers must total, I don't know, a few more dozen. Seems to me 45, other than for the significance of total number of seasons at Shea, is a little low. You're right. I missed that on first read. Maybe they figure with 45 guys they can be done by 5PM and save money on turning the lights on.

Elster88 Sep 17 2008 09:12 PM

HahnSolo wrote: There was an article a few weeks back (Rubin in the Daily News, maybe?) that said Mookie and Davey were not likely to be there. Did it say why?

G-Fafif Sep 18 2008 12:12 AM

Gwreck wrote: Top 5 Absentees: Doc Mookie Cleon Kingman Olerud (also absent: Bobby V. and Davey) G, Hadn't heard about Olerud and Cleon. What gives? G

Met Hunter Sep 18 2008 05:14 AM

MAB Celebrity is having a Shea Goodbye card show/signing that weekend. These are the guests listed so far: Art Shamsky Darryl Strawberry Dwight Gooden Edgardo Alfonzo Felix Millan George Theodore Jerry Koosman Robin Ventura Ron Swoboda Rusty Staub Tom Seaver Wally Backman Willie Mays Yogi Berra Jack Fisher I'm guessing at least these players will be in town for the final game.

seawolf17 Sep 18 2008 05:43 AM

Met Hunter wrote: MAB Celebrity is having a Shea Goodbye card show/signing that weekend. These are the guests listed so far: Art Shamsky Darryl Strawberry Dwight Gooden Edgardo Alfonzo Felix Millan George Theodore Jerry Koosman Robin Ventura Ron Swoboda Rusty Staub Tom Seaver Wally Backman Willie Mays Yogi Berra Jack Fisher I'm guessing at least these players will be in town for the final game. Interesting. I'd ask for more information, as some of those guys I'd love to add to my Mets collection (Stork, Shamsky, Fisher), but I'm sure that fees are going to be outlandish. (I'd love Mays too, but I certainly don't have that kind of cash.)

Gwreck Sep 18 2008 06:03 AM

G-Fafif wrote: ="Gwreck"] Top 5 Absentees: Doc Mookie Cleon Kingman Olerud (also absent: Bobby V. and Davey) G, Hadn't heard about Olerud and Cleon. What gives? G That list was a somewhat-educated, somewhat-random guess about what players I'd think would should up, based on the 45 number. It certainly should *not* be taken as news. Knowing the Mets, I figured they'd screw this up somehow, and there'd be more conspicuous absentees than we knew about (ie. Doc, Mookie). Why did I pick Cleon and Olerud as two expected no-shows? Olerud's got several little kids and lives in Seattle, IIRC. Plus -- despite how great they were -- he was only a Met for 3 seasons and probably is more identified with the Mariners. Cleon? Who knows. Just a random guess. I can't even remember the last Met-related thing he was at Shea for. There is actually one other major person missing but he's excused as he'll be busy that day as the pitching coach for the Braves. I suppose I was also thinking that if we take the "45" number as gospel, we could do one of those CPF-style contests where the person who picks correctly the greatest number of the 45 Mets to show up gets some sort of fabulous prize.* * As always, fabulous prizes conditioned on the winner buying them first.

HahnSolo Sep 18 2008 06:40 AM

Elster88 wrote: ="HahnSolo"]There was an article a few weeks back (Rubin in the Daily News, maybe?) that said Mookie and Davey were not likely to be there. Did it say why? For Mookie I think it was a falling out with the organization (over his no longer coaching, maybe?). Don't remember about Davey.

John Cougar Lunchbucket Sep 18 2008 06:51 AM

No, the Mook fell out of favor when he was photographed wearing Cardinals gear and rooting for his son Preston in the 06 NLCS

Iubitul Sep 18 2008 09:07 AM

I have a feeling that the number of players showing and the number of years at Shea are not a coincidence. I'm thinking that they would have a player represent each year, say, Ron Hunt for '64, Jack fisher for '65, and so on...

metsguyinmichigan Sep 18 2008 09:22 AM

seawolf17 wrote: ="Met Hunter"]MAB Celebrity is having a Shea Goodbye card show/signing that weekend. These are the guests listed so far: Art Shamsky Darryl Strawberry Dwight Gooden Edgardo Alfonzo Felix Millan George Theodore Jerry Koosman Robin Ventura Ron Swoboda Rusty Staub Tom Seaver Wally Backman Willie Mays Yogi Berra Jack Fisher I'm guessing at least these players will be in town for the final game. Interesting. I'd ask for more information, as some of those guys I'd love to add to my Mets collection (Stork, Shamsky, Fisher), but I'm sure that fees are going to be outlandish. (I'd love Mays too, but I certainly don't have that kind of cash.) I had Mays sign a baseball for me back in 1988 and paid what was then the outlandish price of $9. Mantle was at the same show, and I passed beacuse he was a freaking Yankee, but also because the price was $12, and I remember thinking that was just insane. I'd love have some of those guys at the MAB show, especially Theodore and Jack Fisher. I did have anice experience at a big group show like that once. Again, it was the late 1980s, and they had most of the 1962 team there, including Richie Ashburn. A 1969 reunion show that same year on one of the piers had a pretty good chunk of the team, but not the elusive Nolan Ryan.